Halloween Placemats

So I was looking through my mother's awesome stash of fabric to look for some cute prints for my apron, and I came upon this darling fall Halloween fabric.

Hmmm... what to make... what to make...

Placemats!

So I did. Wednesday. And Thursday. I think they turned out pretty well, although I've now learned the beastly part of sewing - cutting. Any tips about how to make it easier? How to get those straight lines and perfect corners?

Anyway, the cool part is that when I was topstitching (is this the correct term?) the edges, I realized I need to sew on the main part to keep the layers in place. I was going to do a nice old rectangle or something, but then I had a fun idea - a spider web!

So I sewed wicked cool spider webs onto the mats in contrasting colors - I'm happy with how it turned out! Now if only I had thought of these BEFORE Halloween... =)

FRONT:

BACK:

How to cook anything Asian

According to me. Who is not really an expert but decent at making things up (sometimes). Tonight I made pseudo-teriyaki chicken with bell peppers and it turned out deliciously.

Before we discovered my daughter's extreme allergy to cow's milk, I was a pro at concocting Italian delights but had never really wanted to make Asian food for dinner. But now that I'm feeding someone dairy-free, I've realized that Asian is a perfect go-to meal that doesn't need substitutions or modifications. From my limited experience then, here is how most Asian recipes go...

Recipe: Asian Whatever You Want

1. Get rice cooking.
2. Saute meat (chicken/pork/beef) strips in a little olive oil. Once the outside is cooked, remove from wok and set aside.
3. Lightly saute vegetables (julienned bell peppers, broccoli, sliced carrots, asparagus, etc.) in the vacated wok. Cook until they start to soften, but are still crisp. Add diced garlic/ginger.
   
4. Return the meat to the wok with vegetables.
   
5. Stir up a sauce (*soy sauce/Worcestershire sauce/sesame oil/brown sugar/honey/lemon juice/coconut milk/teriyaki sauce/peanut butter/seasonings) and pour over the meat & veggies. Simmer on med-low until sauce thickens and coats meat.
   
6. Serve the meat & veggie mixture over rice. Add nuts/dried noodles if desired.

And that's basically it. A good amount of slicing and dicing but cooked all in one pan (except for the rice I guess). Which makes for a quick night of dishwashing. And a happy husband =).

*use a combination of these sauce ingredients, not all of them together... gross

"I'm kinda making this up"

This is the phrase Spencer hears every so often as I'm making a random dinner to use up on-hand ingredients or approximate some fantasy meal in my mind. Usually, at least according to Spencer, this means it will be AWESOME. I love my husband.

To start, I want to post about a memorable meal from a few summers ago. When we arrived in Austin for summer internships in 2008, our arrival was a little dramatic and not in a good way. Fred's transmission had died in the middle of nowhere Texas (which was actually Roosevelt, TX, population: less than 150) and so we had to get a 170-mile tow to our new apartment. It was after dark on a Friday night and we had no furniture and little food. We found out the next day that there was a grocery store within semi-walking distance but for the night we improvised for our meal: cheesy rice.

Recipe: Cheesy Rice
Cook white rice.
Make a sauce with powdered milk and leftover roadtrip cheese. Thicken with flour.
Combine cheesy sauce with rice.
Gag.

This attempt was a definite failure, and one that has definitely made us chuckle when we reflect on the nastiness that was our meal.


Fortunately I can contrast this recipe with a delicious one I made up last night.


Recipe: Ham/Potato/Corn Casserole that is Yet to be Named

3/4 onion, chopped
1-2 T. olive oil
4 unpeeled potatoes, diced
water
garlic powder
salt and pepper
parsley
*1 1/2 c. diced ham
*1 c. frozen corn
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

In a skillet, heat olive oil. Saute onion for a few minutes (while you are dicing the potato). Add potato to skillet and heat until onions are soft and translucent. Pour water over the potatoes (enough to cover the bottom of the pan but not drown everything). Stir and let simmer until the water all evaporates. Repeat once more until the potatoes soften and the mixture is slightly creamy. Sprinkle in seasonings and mix well.

Spray a casserole dish with oil and pour potato mixture into the dish. Mix in ham chunks and corn. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake, covered, at 350F for 30-40 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly and potatoes are soft. Remove cover for last 10 minutes of cooking.


This dish ended up exactly as I wanted it to - it's creamy and delicious because of the potato without having any dairy (like milk or cream of whatever soup or sour cream) other than the cheese. It had good flavor with the onion and I like mixing vegetables in with foods to spread out the calories and add nutrition. I could easily serve this again for dinner or breakfast/brunch and could make a portion without cheese to serve to Evelyn. Success!

*Note to self: these measurements are approximate